Armaldo

Sorry if theres already one of these done but I could not find one on the threads so here it is.....
Armaldo#348

75/125/100/70/80/45
Abilities: Battle Armor- Prevents critical hits
(DW) Swift Swim- Doubles speed in rain

Type: Rock/Bug

Weakness: Water, Rock, Steel.
Resistances: Normal, Poison

Level up moves: -Level 1: Scratch, Harden, Mudsport, Water gun -Level 7: Mudsport -Level 13: Water gun -level 19: Metal claw -Level 25: Protect -Level 31: Ancient power -Level 37: Fury cutter -Level 46: Slash -Level 55: Rock Blast -Level 67: Crush claw -Level 73: X-scissor

TM/HM moves: TM01-Claw sharpen, TM06-Toxic, TM10-Hidden power, TM11-Sunny day, TM15-Hyper beam, TM17-Protect, TM21-Frustration, TM23-Knock down, TM26-Earthquake, TM27-Return, TM28-Dig, TM31-Brick Break, TM32-Double Team, TM37-Sandstorm, TM39-Rock Tomb, TM40-Aerial Ace, TM42-Facade, TM44-Rest, TM45-Attract, TM48-Sing Around, TM54-False Swipe, TM68-Giga Impact, TM69-Rock Polish, TM71-Stone Edge, TM75-Swords Dance, TM76-Bug Opposition, TM78-Level Ground, TM80-Rock Slide, TM81- X-scissor, TM87-Swagger, TM90-Substitute, TM91-Flash Cannon, TM94-Rock Smash, HM01-Cut, HM04-Strength

Egg Moves: Rapid Spin, Knock Off, Screech, Sand Attack, Cross Poison, Curse, Iron Defense, Water Pulse.

Opinion: Poor Armaldo seems to have lost more then its gained this generation, even with a new ability as good as swift swim it lost some good moves namely Superpower, Aqua tail, Low kick and stealth rock.
Moves gained are Claw Sharpen and Knock down, which it also gets stab on. RIght now Armaldo prays for a BW move tutor. Whether these new moves and abilities will improve or weaken Armaldo is yet to be decided, but it does open up some interesting new options. It has nicely distributed stats but its typing is what lets it down, extra damage from stealth rocks doesnt help, and its resitances are too few. Hopefully swift swim will be a saving grace and raise this pokemon out of the NU tier.

Movesets:
#1 Swift Dancer
Jolly 252 Atk/ 252 Speed/ 4 Hp
Ability- Swift swim
Item- Life Orb
Swords dance
Stone edge
Earthquake
X-scissor

Hopefully in rain you can manage a swords dance and attempt a sweep with Armaldo without having to use Rock polish to get your speed up, this means armaldo can get the high speed it needs and an attack boost rather then one or the other. Stab Stone edge and X-scissor is going to help punch a hole in many things, Earthquake is to deal with any rock types that will switch in to ruin your fun. This set needs to watch out though because in rain Armaldo may not have the best advantage as there are other swift swimmers who use rain much better, and water type moves such as aqua jet will be powered up in rain and take out Armaldo before it can do anything.

#2 Supporting Armaldo
Impish 252 Def/ 248 Hp/ 8 Atk
Ability- Swift Swim/ Battle armor
Item-Leftovers
Rapid Spin
Toxic
Rock Blast
Knock Off

Armaldo used to be able to support a bit better, whys that you might ask? He had stealth rock and now this rock type pokemon can no longer use this move unless learnt in 4th gen games. However Armaldos bulk can still help it survive while it annoys with the team. Rapid spin is gunna help get rid of entry hazards, toxic for status, Rock blast (which has stab) is good for breaking pesky subs and knock off which is handy for items that annoy you.

Final Thought
Armaldo has changed alright, but is it better or worse? It would be nice to get some public opinion because as one of the exclusive fossil pokemon it deserves more love so please, show some love and comment for Armaldo.
 

Athenodoros

Official Smogon Know-It-All
Swift swim is a great addition, probably the best Armaldo could have hoped for, but I think it is still doomed to the realms of obscurity. 45 speed is just to low: even with a 2x boost, it is still going to be outsped by to much for a sweep, although it is bulky enough to take hits. I think it will be just another pokemon which does reasonably well with support (i.e. rain) but does not do as much with it as others would. In addition, it will always be compared with other Swift Swimmers (looking at you, Kingdra) who have fewer weaknesses, similar defensive stats but more speed and different attacking stats, and I don't think it will come off well.
 
Armaldo is still viable in the Gen V metagame, IMO. You can import an Armaldo that knows Gen IV moves from D/P/Pt/HG/SS on to B/W. Unfortunately, those moves aren't compatible with Swift Swim.
 

SJCrew

Believer, going on a journey...
is a Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Battle Simulator Moderator Alumnus
I'm not seeing what kind of Rain team would actually want this or what he'll be able to effectively set up on. I suppose maybe he could run a Rain Dance+3 attacks set like Ludicolo, but again, his lack of synergy with common Rain team members will keep him off most teams. He's still looking at NU this gen. A better NU, but still NU.
 
A RockPolish set is better, since you dont want to power up enemy AquaJets. EQ/Stone Edge/X-Scissor provide Armaldo wih Great coverage alongside its great base 125 Atk.


Overall, I think the generation shift hasnt given too many new stuff to Armaldo, outside of Swift Swim. It would have been nice had it got some priority move to deal with its poor speed.
 

Nastyjungle

JACKED and sassy
is a Top Artist Alumnusis a Community Leader Alumnus
While Swift Swim is a great addition to Armaldo, I feel like he might be slightly outclassed by Kabutops as a Physical Swift Swim sweeper.

Kabutops gets an added rain boost to his STAB water attacks; whereas Armaldo is does not.
Armaldo is also weak to water, so the opposing sides' SE water attacks are boosted by the rain, which could spell death for Armaldo.
Lastly, in the event the rain should stop, Armaldo is left helpless with only base 45 speed, while Kabutops has a passable base 80.
 
Agree with Nastyjungle.

I see no point in using Armaldo over Kabutops who is faster, has one of his STAB moves powered up in the rain, has priority, has typing that allows him to switch in better...I could go on and on but Armaldo will most likely remain in the depths of the lower tiers :(
 
There's one advantage Armaldo has over Kabutops. It's far better at handling Grass-Types. It's not weak to them, and has STAB X-Scissor to hammer them. That is fairly useful in a rain team.
 
As much as I love Armaldo I think his use will die off this gen, he was too bloody slow to use Rock Polish last gen and Swift Swim won't change much. Having a deadly SD Rock Blast means nothing anymore with it being given out so freely.

Furthermore he doesn't even have exclusivity on Rock/Bug anymore with Iwaparesu around.

So what can Armaldo do? Well hes a pretty poor supporter, rock weak rapid spinner with no recovery. Hes not much of a hazard setup either, Iwaparesu has better defense, Spikes, Sturdy AND Stealth Rock.

So. Yeah. Bulky Swords Dance or Rapid Spin w/Knock Off are the only ways he can differentiate himself, Gen 5 hasn't been kind to Armaldo at all.
 

Manaphy

Throughout heaven and earth, I alone am family guy
is a Tiering Contributoris a Top Contributor
Armaldo could be useful for a Rain Team that wants protection from a Sandstorm Team. He gets the Sp.Def boost from SandStorm and he's already quite bulky. Armaldo with an Adamant Nature and Max Speed reaches 380-ish Speed, just enough to outrun base 115's.
 
I'm officially promoting Armaldo with the title of Best pokemon ever.

Okay, but in all seriousness, I'm currently expirimenting with a bulky Curse set, altough it's mostly theorymon, as I haven't tried it out yet in different occasions.

For all your needs, this is my set:

Curse
move 1: Curse
move 2: X-Scissor
move 3: Stonde Edge / Rock Slide
move 4: Low Kick / Brick Break / Earthquake
item: Leftovers
ability: Battle Armor
nature: Careful
evs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Spd

The meaning of this set is like most of the bulky boosters. You maximise your HP and Special Defense while you raise your Attack and Defense in battle. Armaldo doesn't care about speed so you don't have to worry about those drops, as it won't be outspeeding much anyway.

I have been trying this set quite succesfully, but with quite some support. Dual Screens to give it an advantage with Sandstorm to give it a permanent boost in Special Defense. In this case, Armaldo het incredibly bulky and takes attacks from both sides of the spectrum very well.

It has good offensive typing with Rock and Bug STABs. Therefore, X-Scissor is your main choice for Bug STAB and hit's quite some pokémon really hard, like Reuniclus, Hydreigon, the Latis and a lot of other Dark, Psychic and Grass pokémon. Stone Edge is your rock STAB wich hits hard as well, altough you could go with Rock Slide for better accuracy. Low Kick is the best option, with quite some power and hits heavy foes really hard, especially Tyranitar. Brick Beak is an option too and can break defensive screens.

Battle Armos above Swift Swim for several reasons. First of all, with Rain Dance, it will only speed tie with Base 90's. Next to that, several moves will be illegal with it. Next to that, Battle Armor prevents Critical Hits from disturbing your setup.

I haven't done any calculations yet and don't have much time to play too much, but I encourage you guys to try this out. I probably forgot thousands of stuff in this, but it may be a set with potential.
 

Bologo

Have fun with birds and bees.
is a Contributor Alumnus
I'm officially promoting Armaldo with the title of Best pokemon ever.

Okay, but in all seriousness, I'm currently expirimenting with a bulky Curse set, altough it's mostly theorymon, as I haven't tried it out yet in different occasions.

For all your needs, this is my set:

Curse
move 1: Curse
move 2: X-Scissor
move 3: Stonde Edge / Rock Slide
move 4: Low Kick / Brick Break / Earthquake
item: Leftovers
ability: Battle Armor
nature: Careful
evs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Spd

The meaning of this set is like most of the bulky boosters. You maximise your HP and Special Defense while you raise your Attack and Defense in battle. Armaldo doesn't care about speed so you don't have to worry about those drops, as it won't be outspeeding much anyway.

I have been trying this set quite succesfully, but with quite some support. Dual Screens to give it an advantage with Sandstorm to give it a permanent boost in Special Defense. In this case, Armaldo het incredibly bulky and takes attacks from both sides of the spectrum very well.

It has good offensive typing with Rock and Bug STABs. Therefore, X-Scissor is your main choice for Bug STAB and hit's quite some pokémon really hard, like Reuniclus, Hydreigon, the Latis and a lot of other Dark, Psychic and Grass pokémon. Stone Edge is your rock STAB wich hits hard as well, altough you could go with Rock Slide for better accuracy. Low Kick is the best option, with quite some power and hits heavy foes really hard, especially Tyranitar. Brick Beak is an option too and can break defensive screens.

Battle Armos above Swift Swim for several reasons. First of all, with Rain Dance, it will only speed tie with Base 90's. Next to that, several moves will be illegal with it. Next to that, Battle Armor prevents Critical Hits from disturbing your setup.

I haven't done any calculations yet and don't have much time to play too much, but I encourage you guys to try this out. I probably forgot thousands of stuff in this, but it may be a set with potential.
I would try Rest/Sleep Talk/Curse/X-Scissor or Rock Slide. Armaldo really needs the recovery and the ability to get rid of status like Toxic or Burn. I love the idea of Armaldo as a Curser, because his monstrous Special Defense in the Sand, and most of all, because of Battle Armor. Crits are easily the bane of all Cursers, but Armaldo actually has the ability to avoid this, which is really handy. Lapras can do the same as well, so it's really whatever's better for the team. But blocking crits is serious business when it comes to defensive boosting.
 
He's neutral to Mach Punch and gets stab on X-scissor for grass types, that's enough of a reason to use him over Kabutops on a rain team :D
 
I dont see whats the problem with running Armaldo on a rain team.

Firstly, I don't see whats the problem with being weak to Aqua Jet is. YOU will be the person using the rain team so i don't really see your opponent being the one who uses Aqua Jet as well, who uses a Pokemon with Aqua Jet out of a rain team? Only mons i can think of are Azurmarril and Floatzel.

Secondly, so what if he doesnt get bonus STAB because of lack of Water moves. Why don't you just treat the rain as a free Rock Polish so you can use Sword Dance instead to be at +2 for both stats in a single turn. You most likely will already be using Kabutops to take advantage of water STAB so using both Kabutops and Armaldo will be going for something like dual dragons, except that they don't share the same weaknesses.

Yes and that STAB X-scissor for grass types really helps as well as neutrality to Grass attacks.

Theres also the neutrality to Mach Punch and resistence to Extreme Speed which is commonly used to deal with Swift Swimmers. Bullet Punch weakness may hurt, but you have a team full of water types to back him up.

Then theres pseudo STAB on Aqua Tail if Hippodon gets any funny ideas.

Swift Swim Armaldo? Why not?
 

Bologo

Have fun with birds and bees.
is a Contributor Alumnus
Er, if Drizzle + Swift Swim isn't allowed on the same team, I'm pretty sure it applies to Swift Swim Armaldo too.
 

breh

強いだね
Armaldo sucks in general why would you want it on a rain team

for fuck's sake it resists only normal and poison

normal and poison

Drizzle/SS ban doesn't help either.. /rant

curse set seems ok but I think "why is Cradily not being used"; yeah yeah battle armor I know but phaze is far more common IMO. Use Rock Slide; there are no resistances to it.
 
Sorry, I know dead thread, but actually, if you're lucky with your DW catch, you can still have Stealth Rock on him, so he can be good for that too.

The one I got has that. It's all a matter of getting it the right nature and he seems like a perfectly reasonable support on a rain team.
 
I know that Aqua Tail isn't currently compatible with SS, but say Armaldo is able to learn it by move tutor when Gray comes out like it could in Platinum, would there be any utility in using it over say, Earthquake?

I know Bug+Rock+Ground gets perfect neutral coverage, but I'm sure in many cases even a resisted Aqua Tail boosted by Rain will still do more than say, a neutral Earthquake.

I'm trying to think of ways for Armaldo to abuse the rain, or else he will still be outclassed by Water type SS'ers.
 

Users Who Are Viewing This Thread (Users: 1, Guests: 1)

Top